Video: Jeremy McWilliams and ‘The Beast’

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Baron straddles Jezza’s Beast

KTM UK hosted a 1290 Super Duke R owners trackday at Silverstone last week, and 44Teeth were present with BvG’s very own SD-R for some orange spankings. Jeremy McWilliams – KTM’s official test rider and 1290 developer – was also on hand for set-up advice and gargantuan wheelies.

After setting up BvG’s suspension and showing us the way round Silverstone, we sat down with the former GP legend for a cuppa to talk about his role in taming ‘The Beast’: that prototype that caused such a stir before the production model was released, and KTM shipped it over from Austria for the day. It has to go down as one of the biggest pre-prod teasers in history.

The 990 Super Duke R was such a devastating weapon on circuit, which kinda makes the production 1290’s slight lack of track sharpness even more upsetting. But after Jezza dialled in a turn of preload on the shock and twiddled with a few clickers, it transformed Baron’s bike into something far more adept. According to McWilliams, a Power Parts-kitted 1290 can lap at the same pace as a 2015 BMW S1000RR.

The Beast certainly looks beastly, resplendent in that special orange paint and bragging one of the sexiest exhaust configurations known to man. Having not been started for a few years, it didn’t make an appearance on track during the day but we got an exclusive lowdown on its action ages.

Gyna-Rod

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